entry 7: the letter genre
I have been inspired to include the letter genre in my classroom by the examples of letter writing listed in Tompkins (2012) as well as examples mentioned throughout the presentation. One example of friendly letter writing I would like to include in my future classroom is Pen Pal Letters - "teachers can arrange for students to exchange pen pal letters or post-cards with students in another class by contacting a teacher in a nearby school, through educational online sites, or by answering advertisements in educational magazines" (Tompkins, 2012, p. 117). I love that Pen Pal Letters could be written between students in different classes within the same community, or even between students from different countries! I think having my students write to a pen pal in another country or even on the other side of the United States would really teach them a lot about the similarities and differences people living in different places of the world have in comparison to themselves. I also think this would be a great way to apply to Muhammad's (2020) HRL Framework.
I also was exposed to a Digital Letter Writing Tool Letter Generator during the in-class presentation for the letter genre. I think this would be a really effective tool to use in the classroom to help teach students the important characteristics of letter writing. I love that it is a fairly simple and easy to use tool that would help students learn how to write a letter. I feel like I learned so much about this genre and I can't wait to use it in my future classroom with my future students!
References
Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. New York, NY: Scholastic.
Sam, you offer a great summary of the highlights from Lauren and Amanda's presentation. I wondered, how much of this was brand new to you? For example, you noted in your first paragraph that "I learned that there are a multitude of purposes and audiences that would impact the form you would choose tow write your letter in." Prior to reading Tompkins and attending this workshop, how would you characterize your understanding of the form of a letter as it related to purposes and audiences? One suggestion I would like to offer for future entries is that you use the entry to write out in detail how you envision yourself using one or more of the strategies with a particular group of students. This will allow you to use the entry for imagining possibilities as well as highlighting key concepts.
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